Itinerary Help for Week in Wengen?

I think you have a great plan…it’s like I wrote your question … been to Wengen area six times including last two years …
get the Berner Oberland pass and half fare card…send me private message if you’d like to talk by phone and would be glad to give you all kinds of info… it’s like my second home!

If you’re looking for one harder hike, either do Schynige Platte > First and skip First/Bachalpsee OR do First/Bachalpsee and pick a different harder hike. Schynige Platte to First goes right through Bachalpsee and on to First, so no reason to repeat the same hike twice :)

I’ll list an itinerary day by day but it’s obviously reliant on weather. We have a really amazing stretch of weather going on right now, so hopefully it will last for you all the way to the end of your trip! If it stays like it is forecasting there is a chance all you’ll see is sun! My husband & I spend our summers living in Mürren and sometimes take people on hikes around this area, so if you want to switch your epic hike to the Mürren area (I’d recommend) then feel free to reach out and we can take you on an epic non touristy option (I don’t share those publicly on forums like this in order to keep them non touristy)

August 11 - Arrive, settle in Wengen
August 12 - Mannlichen > Kleine Scheidegg > Wengernalp (optional detour to Fallbodensee)
August 13 - Epic hike from Mürren (weather is looking amazing for this)
August 14 - Schynige Platte Panoramaweg (Daube Oberbergorn Loucherhorn) - This is the beautiful ridge portion where you can see the lakes and mountains at the same time and is more moderate than going all the way to First
August 15 - Wengen > Lauterbrunnen > walk the valley > Stechelberg to Schilthorn > Birg Thrill Walk > Mürren > walk to Gimmelwald > cable car to Stechelberg > bus to Lauterbrunnen (option to stop at Trummelbach Falls) > Wengen
August 16 - Buffer day for the above + option for First/Bachalpsee
August 17 - Check out in Wengen > Lauterbrunnen > Interlaken > board boat with your luggage to Brienz > Train to Luzern
August 18 - Explore Luzern
August 19 - Boat Ride + Rigi
August 20 - Depart from Zurich

Your train pass will depend on your specific itinerary, so if above looks like something you like then I can help you with the calculations.

Be aware that wherever you have seen that the weather is going to be amazing on Aug 13 is only making a wild guess. We do not know the weather more than 24 hours in advance here currently.

Of course I’m aware that it’s not fully accurate, but I’m sure as you know we experienced weeks of poor weather and it seems to be shifting to a bout of very nice weather, so it seems reasonable to expect early next week to be fairly nice. Maybe not perfect, but nice hiking weather is reasonable to expect. Atleast much nicer than we had for all of July :)

We recently stayed in Wengen for a week (prior to several more days in Kandersteg area) with great - altho on warm side - weather every day end of June / early July (lucky us) .
Few ideas we did to combine hikes the few times we did this during our week in Wengen :

We took the first train available up to schynige platte from Wilderswil (from Wengen that meant we were out before 7 am I believe and sadly missed our hotels breakfast but worth it to get there first!) - hiked the panorama trail (beautiful!) that then looped back to the starting point (about 3 1/2 miles I believe) then returned to Wengen by noon, took a short break and then went up to Männlichen and hiked down a hill
around there (no set goal - just down to some cows and little lakes) and up again with the gorgeous mountain backdrop - beautiful and it was a work out!) and then back to Wengen (we returned on the gondola the way we came- all we had energy for at that point) - one of our best days.

We also went back to mannlichen one morning - hiked up to the viewpoint which had too many people for our liking - and then took the gondola to grindelwald , bought a supplement for the Eigergletscher station gondola (we had BO pass and half fare card) and hiked the Eiger trail to alpiglen - enjoyed a delicious local
Lager at the little bar/ cafe there - and then train back to grindelwald, gondola to mannlichen , gondola to Wengen. That hike was about 3.7 miles based on Strava and really enjoyable for us -
and felt a nice level of moderately challenging. We combined with an evening Wengen short hike (just followed the streets up and out of the center of town) to a beautiful spot for sunset.

One hike I don't think has been mentioned is the Grutschalp to Winteregg hike. You take the lift from Lauterbrunnen (across for the train station) up to Grutschalp. Then walk to Winteregg. Easy walk through rural area with some great mountain views. You can also continue from Winteregg and walk to Murren but the views on that section aren't as good. Better to walk Grutschalp to Winteregg and then catch the train from the Winteregg train station to Murren. Might want to combine this with your Murren-Gimmelwald walk. We did both these walks just last month and would do both again if were going back. Also a tip if you are walking into Murren from the train station side - stop at Hotel Edelweiss and have lunch/drink on their deck out back that hangs cliffside facing Mt. Eiger. GREAT views and pleasant setting. We've been to Murren twice, both times stopped at the Edelweiss, once for lunch, one for a drink, and if we were going back we would make it a point to stop there again.

Oh, and one other thing since you are staying in Wengen. Walk up the main street (away from the train station) until you start going up for a little incline. Look for a church on your left. Just beyond the church (to the left of the church entrance) is a small area with benches that have devasting views of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Trust me - it will be worth your while if you have a clearish day to enjoy that view.

Thank you all for the advice! We went on a shopping trip today to buy some last minute items and are almost done packing, so the trip finally seems real!

Michael - Thank you for the suggestion on combining the Half Fare Card and the Berner Oberland Pass, I will look into that! Will send you a message too.

wanderweg - Wow, we are so so grateful for the detailed itinerary. I will definitely reach out to you directly about the hike in the Murren area, it sounds like a lovely way to get off the beaten path! I think your itinerary sounds pretty much ideal, although we understand that it might shift around based on the weather, so if you have advice on which train pass would work best, we're all ears.

WengenK - Thanks for the disclaimer! We understand the importance of keeping a close eye on the weather throughout the trip.

mggtravel - Reading reports of how people spent their days in the area is so helpful and gets me even more excited for our trip. I appreciate the ideas on how to combine walks/hikes in the same area!

SC Traveler - Thank you for the recommendation for the Grutschalp to Winteregg hike and the suggestion to combine it with the Murren-Gimmelwald walk. We'll definitely check out Hotel Edelweiss and the viewing point you mentioned in Wengen!

Oh also, does anyone have advice on the best way to visit Reichenbach Falls? As a big Sherlock Holmes fan, I would love to see it during our visit in the region if it isn’t too much of a hassle!

Go to Meiringen.
Follow the signs to Reichenbach Falls.
Hike up. Have lunch. Take gondola back down!
A little self-guided Sherlock museum (audioguide) is also in Meiringen.